Samantha McGavin

Samantha is Executive Director of Inter Pares. She is also a member of the Asia team, focusing on Inter Pares’ Burma program. Previously, she was a fundraising manager (2002-2008) and then communications director (2008-2017). She is also one of two staff leads for the prevention of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment.

Samantha holds a bachelor of arts in English and anthropology, and a bachelor of social work (concentration on community development), from McGill University. Before joining Inter Pares in 2002, Samantha worked in Montreal's community sector and was a freelance researcher/writer/translator.

Samantha is particularly interested in documenting and promoting non-hierarchical management structures, consensus-based decision-making, and feminist practice. She was one of three principal researchers in Inter Pares' participatory action research project on its feminist methodology and structure, and the co-author of two related publications: "Does It Work? Feminist analysis and practice at Inter Pares" (Inter Pares Occasional Paper, March 2011) and "Feminist participatory research in a social justice organization" (Action Research 01/2011; 9(3):261-281). She is also the author of "Travailler auprès des personnes réfugiées" (Enjeux et défis du développement international : Acteurs et champs d'action, Les Presses de l'Université d'Ottawa, 2019) and is the co-author of "Online Fundraising for Small Budgets" (Grassroots Fundraising Jan/Feb 2009:8-11).

In her personal life, Samantha is engaged in LGBTQ+ refugee resettlement and promoting social justice in education. She is a parent to two young children.